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old forge soccer

Tough week ends with strong effort

Blue Devils give Mt. View all it can handle in play-in loss

By Rick Notari rnotari@psdispatch.com
Pittston Sunday Dispatch Staff Writer

It was a matchup they were set up to avoid – and wanted to avoid.

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Old Forge’s Kevin Conze (7) kicks the ball while it is in midair during the Blue Devils 2-1 loss in a LSL Class 1A play-in game at the Billy Long Complex on Thursday.

photo by rick notari

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But when things didn’t go as planned earlier in the week, Old Forge was left with the insurmountable task of facing District 2 Class 1A power, and Lackawanna Soccer League Division I member, Mountain View in the opening round of the LSL Class 1A play-in tournament.

Little did the Blue Devils know they would be within just a penalty kick of the Eagles when the match concluded.

Old Forge went toe-to-toe with the defending district champ, falling 2-1 on a late-game penalty kick at the Billy Long Complex on Thursday afternoon.

“I think we were definitely nervous before the game,” said Old Forge Head Coach John Argonish. “We told the kids we had nothing to lose, and felt that Mt. View had everything to lose. We told the kids that if they went out and did the best job they could do that no matter what the score ended up we would be proud of them.

“It would have been a shame not to give them 100 percent and give them a run.”

And that’s exactly what the Blue Devils did.

After Dylan Thomas scored unassisted just 5:11 into the match for Mt. View, Old Forge played the Eagles tough for the rest of the first half, staying within a goal at halftime.

That’s when momentum turned.

“We told the kids that we thought the goal that had gotten in there was a very cheap goal and that we had played a game that should have been knotted up,” said Argonish. “The score didn’t indicate the kind of first half we had played. We told them to keep their heads up and keep diggin.

“We were getting the ball to open the half, and told the kids, ‘let’s come out and make a statement. Let’s show them they are in a dogfight and we did that. It was unbelievable. “

Old Forge opened the second half with a goal just 14 seconds into the period. Ian Nemetz got loose down the left sideline and crossed the ball across the middle to an open J Argonish who beat the keeper to tie the game at 1-1.

“It was great ball movement,” said Coach Argonish of the goal. “We really put them on their heels. Their star player wasn’t playing to that point. From there on they took note that we were here to play.”

The Eagles turned up the offensive pressure from that point, peppering Blue Devils keeper Jason Sniegowski with numerous shots. But the junior was up to the task, turning away 10 second-half shots. Sniegowski saved 16 shots total on the afternoon.

Old Forge struggled to muster any solid runs at the goal after its early second-half goal as Mt. View clamped down with a suffocating defense.

A penalty called in the box on the Blue Devils would determine the outcome at the 62:41 mark of the game.

Chuck Cross drilled his penalty kick past a diving Sniegowski in the right side of the goal for the 2-1 lead and ultimately the winning goal.

“(In terms of the building of our program) it is absolutely a win today,” said Coach Argonish. “We have a bright future. It’s tough to see a positive in a loss that ends your season, but the kids showed a lot of promise all year with things to build upon. And today was another one of those things.

“You don’t mind ended the season on a game like this. Even though we lost, we ended on a positive note the way we played today against a Division I team. I am very proud of the way we played. A lot of kids have improved over the course of the season. The way we started and the way we finished, we are headed in the right direction.”

OF 1, Lakeland 2 OT

Old Forge’s District 2 Class 1A playoff hopes took a crushing blow on Tuesday night at Chapman Lake as Lakeland scored as time expired in overtime to defeat the Blue Devils, 2-1, and clinch the last Lackawanna Soccer League automatic berth in the district tournament.

Things got off on the right foot for the Blue Devils when J Argonish left-footed a ball past diving Chiefs keeper Chris Vojick and into the net for a 1-0 lead just 3:59 before halftime. Argonish’s goal came off an assist from Michael Long who beat two defenders before leaving the ball for his teammate.

Old Forge (5-5-2) led for the next 37 minutes before a penalty gave Lakeland (6-5-1) a direct kick which Jim Marcinko blasted past the Blue Devils defense and goalie Jason Sniegowski to tie the game at 1-1 with just under seven minutes remaining. Sniegowski was stellar in goal for most of the game, registering 10 saves on the night.

Then with the game seemingly headed to a second overtime, disaster struck for Old Forge.

Marcinko got behind the Blue Devils defense by taking the ball from midfield to within 20 yards of the goal with just under 10 seconds left before leaving it for Matt Morell who knocked it past a defenseless Sniegowski as time expired for the win.